Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes:
first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”
Ministry Partners,
Beautiful Ugandan Children
With the changes in the itinerary today
found us off to do ministry at Ntenjeru Prison, our 4th prison, but
before leaving town we purchased a small battery operated sound system as the
places we go have no electricity and the one we had rented was no longer
available to us.
This prison was closer than the others
have been but the Gov. did not want us visiting the prisons local to Kampala as
most people go there. We are reaching untouched territory for sure.
Anyone driving down the road would not
have realized this was even a prison as there are no brick walls surrounding
the area or guards visible. The area is surrounded by sheets of corrugated tin
stood on end. We drove up to a small open door in a set of larger doors and
Alfred went inside to tell them we were there. He returned after a bit and the
large metal doors were opened for us to drive inside.
The warden was not there but the O.C.
(Officer in Command) welcomed us. This was a very small prison with only 74
prisoners including 6 women prisoners and 1 tiny baby. We were informed that all
the prisoners are not here as some went to where the prison food is grown to
bring back vegetables and the truck had broken down.
They set us up under a tree along with
the 6 women prisoners and the 40 or so men sat under the overhang of a long
narrow building that I presume was their sleeping area.
Our new sound system worked well but I
chose not to use a mic. And left them for Alfred and Pastor Aaron to use for
worship and translating.
One of the prisoners assisted Alfred in
leading worship before I preached the message on “Fear” followed by the Holy Spirit
bringing 18 to saving knowledge in Christ. We were able to hand each one a
Bible and discipleship Booklet and I told the rest of the prisoners that we had
brought 3 cases of Bible/Booklet sets as well as soap. That information brought
a round of applause.
Then I spoke for a bit about “Forgiveness”……
the importance of forgiving others and yourself to which 32 responded to that
prayer of invitation. As I walked up to each one and shook their hand speaking
a blessing over them most were crying. I ended our time there by talking about
their value to God and each other. I told them that we all hear enough ugly
words from others in the world and that they needed to be kind to each other
and encourage each other. I could tell they agreed as they shook each others
hand/smiled and repeated a few words of encouragement to each other.
The response of these prisoners, indeed,
made this another amazing day – a day to give God praise.
That none would be lost,
Arlene
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